By Zephyria 
A detailed examination was scheduled for two days later, but Jeong-min requested to postpone it once more. He didn’t want to do anything while nothing had been resolved. Kim Ju-hwan listened to Jeong-min. However, he set the condition that Jeong-min must contact him immediately if he felt even slightly uncomfortable. Although he occasionally came to the parents’ house abruptly at night to check on Jeong-min’s condition and then left, he didn’t demand anything more than that.
In the meantime, as expected, contact continued to come from Yu Shin-woo. He called and sent messages incessantly, to the point where Jeong-min wondered if he had ever received this much contact while dating Shin-woo.
On the other hand, Jeong-min did not answer his calls and did not read his messages. He needed time. Whether the child knew this or not, it had been too quiet since then. To a frightening degree.
At first, he was grateful. Thanks to that, he could think and agonize fully. But when it remained quiet without any symptoms for over a week, he suddenly became anxious. He wondered if something had gone wrong with the child.
No matter how complicated the situation was, that was a problem for immature adults; this child was innocent. Therefore, Jeong-min decided to move up the examination. Of course, he intended to meet and speak with Shin-woo before that.
“Haa….”
He had thought long and hard. But the conclusion was only one. He had imagined countless possibilities and futures, but the path was always the same.
Jeong-min fiddled with his phone before pressing the call button.
─ Jeong-min.
In the past, he had been happy just to hear Shin-woo’s voice. He couldn’t believe he was actually talking to him… But now, his heart felt heavy and uncomfortable. How did things end up like this?
“Shin-woo hyung, sorry I couldn’t pick up.”
─ No. It happens. You must have had a lot to think about on your own.
“…Hyung, where are you right now?”
─ I’m at home.
“Have you eaten?”
─ Is now the time to worry about me? You should worry about yourself first. Did you eat? I heard you haven’t had the exam yet.
“Ah… I’m planning to do the exam tomorrow. Um… Hyung, I’ll go to your house now.”
─ If you’re at home, I’ll go to you. Don’t move.
“No. I’m not at home right now….”
He didn’t want to tell him he was at his parents’ house. He felt as if he would be giving away his only sanctuary….
“I can be there within an hour. Is that okay?”
─ Of course it’s okay if you’re coming. I’ll make time even if I don’t have any.
A kind person. But why hadn’t he shown that kindness sooner? Why only now….
Jeong-min smiled bitterly as he hung up the phone. He then got dressed and left the room. As Jeong-min moved, his stomach—which had shown no slight symptoms—tugged a bit. Yes, it must be sleeping peacefully.
“Sleep tight. Then everything will be over. Don’t even listen to the adults’ conversation. Just think of a happy future and have a happy dream.”
Jeong-min spoke softly, gently stroking his stomach before leaving the room.
“Where are you going?”
Young-min, who had been watching TV on the sofa, asked as he saw Jeong-min leaving the house.
“I have some business to take care of. I’ll be back before dinner.”
“Really? Then what do you want to eat for dinner later?”
Dinner… Actually, he hadn’t had much of an appetite for the past few days and hadn’t given it much thought, but at Young-min’s words, a certain food suddenly flashed through his mind and he found himself craving it.
“Pizza.”
“Pizza?!”
Young-min bolted upright from the sofa.
“Why?”
“No, you hate pizza. Do you really want to eat it?”
Ah, that was right. To be precise, he didn’t hate pizza, but he wasn’t one to enjoy it often. However, once the thought of wanting it occurred to him, he could think of nothing but pizza. He wanted to finish his business quickly and come back to eat. He felt a bit strange thinking this way. He had never been this greedy when it came to food….
No. This is what the baby wants to eat. How strange. It really happens like this.
“I guess my tastes have changed. Pick something delicious.”
“Got it!”
Excited, Young-min turned on his phone and began looking at the menu. Jeong-min told him he would contact him before arriving home and then left.
“How do you even know what pizza is to want to eat it?”
Jeong-min spoke to his stomach. Naturally, there was no answer, but he smiled. His heart felt a little fluttery and light.
✽✽✽
“Jeong-min.”
“Hi, hyung.”
Jeong-min greeted Shin-woo with a smile. Shin-woo, who had welcomed Jeong-min with a heavy expression, smiled slightly and stepped aside, and only then could Jeong-min enter Shin-woo’s house.
Shin-woo’s house… it had been a long time. He hadn’t been able to come since Shin-woo’s frequent hospitalizations and discharges. It was the same as always. Clean, everything in its place…. It was a house that was exactly like him.
“The house is a bit chaotic, isn’t it?”
“It’s fine.”
“Just sit for a moment. Do you want something to eat?”
“Hyung, I’m really fine.”
“Don’t be like that. I want to do something for you.”
“Then just water… water is fine.”
“Okay. Just wait a moment.”
Yu Shin-woo went to get the water, and Jeong-min sat on the sofa and took a deep breath. It’s okay. I can say it well. I’ve agonized and practiced hard until now.
“Here, drink some water.”
“Thanks.”
Jeong-min took a sip of water. Meanwhile, Shin-woo sat opposite him.
“How is your body?”
“I’m okay, hyung.”
“…Since you didn’t answer my calls, I thought we were just going to drift apart like this. But thank you for contacting me first and coming. Jeong-min.”
“…I needed to think for a bit.”
“Think about what I said?”
Jeong-min nodded. Feeling his throat go dry, he took another sip of water.
“Hyung, let’s break up.”
“Jeong-min.”
“Please keep listening to me.”
When Jeong-min reached out to stop him, Shin-woo started to rise slightly before sitting back down on the sofa.
“I wanted to tell you this back at the hospital. I know you’re a good person, a kind person. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t become an Omega. And I probably never will. I happened to get pregnant, but the fact that I’m an Alpha remains unchanged. But if I stay by your side, I feel like I’ll end up hating myself for being an Alpha.”
“Jeong-min, I told you to go to America with me. They say they’re researching substance transformation drugs there too.”
Hyung… until the very end… he doesn’t say, ‘It’s okay even if you’re an Alpha.’
Of course, even if he did say it, I’m already too exhausted and worn out… I wouldn’t look back.
“I have no intention of changing my trait. I will live as an Alpha from now on. Hyung. I’m sorry. Because I am lacking. But I don’t want to feel sorry toward you anymore. You don’t have to feel sorry for me and undergo treatment. In America, meet a good Omega who has a high matching rate with you and who loves you. I’ll pray that you can.”
“Then… what about that child? It could be my child. You’re breaking up with me like this?”
“I was happy when you asked me to go to America together. But I don’t think that’s right. This child needs to be here. It doesn’t matter who the father is. I’m the one who will raise this child. It’s my child, not anyone else’s.”
Kim Ju-hwan had given him the answer to this. As he said, it doesn’t matter whose seed it is. What matters is that it’s Jeong-min’s child, his own child. It is a life he must take responsibility for.
“…So you’ve decided.”
“Yes, sorry.”
“No, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who’s more sorry.”
“Hyung… I want you to be happy. It broke my heart that I couldn’t give you that happiness….”
“…I wonder what use that is now. It’s already over.”
Shin-woo chuckled. And just then, the doorbell rang.
“Ah, they must be here.”
Who came?
“A guest?”
“Yes. I called them because you said you were coming.”
Was it someone Jeong-min knew? Shin-woo went to the entrance and opened the door. Then, suddenly, a thudding sound was heard, and Jeong-min bolted upright. No, he tried to. Suddenly, his stomach hurt so much. To the point where he couldn’t even move.
“Shin Jeong-min!!”
This voice belonged to Kim Ju-hwan. He entered, his face pale.
“What the— why are you here— ugh!”
“Sunbae!”
Kim Ju-hwan approached and checked Jeong-min’s condition.
“Does your stomach hurt? Let’s go to the hospital. Right now.”
“Why on earth are you—”
Jeong-min clutched his stomach and looked at Yu Shin-woo. Yu Shin-woo, whose lip was split and face was swollen red from being hit by Kim Ju-hwan, met Jeong-min’s eyes and smiled sneeringly. It felt as if his heart had dropped with a ‘thump.’ In that moment, the water glass sitting beside him caught his eye. A sense of dread washed over his entire body.
“No way….”
Kim Ju-hwan supported Jeong-min to help him up, but he pushed him away and tried to walk on his own. This level of pain was nothing. It was just a momentary shock. He wanted to believe it was okay, that it would be fine, so he stubbornly tried to walk alone, but a terrible agony began to bloom from below.
“Ah….”
As blood dripped between his legs, Jeong-min felt as if he were losing his mind. Perhaps it would have been better to just lose consciousness.
“No… no….”
Within his fading consciousness, his body collapsed powerlessly. In those final moments, he saw a man with an expressionless face as if nothing had happened, and another man, pale and devastated, trying his best to catch him as he fell.
The entire situation felt like hell. In the midst of it, he felt pity for the man rushing toward him, trying somehow to hold him and stop his fall.